Storm Clouds and an Endless Ocean
by Cassmac336
Summary: Eren is a gifted musician studying music in college. Levi is a cafe/bookshop owner. They form an unlikely friendship and perhaps more? What can possibly go wrong when a Storm meets an Ocean? (Sorry, it's my first fic so I'm not sure what to write as a summary). Slow buildup. Most chapters will be Levi/Eren but I may write chapters about other couples as well. Frequent Updates
1. Storm Clouds

Hi there! This is my very first fanfiction, so any comments/concerns or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

The small quote (which will be different each chapter) is NOT mine, I simply found it on the web and all credit goes to the original writer of the quote.

Summary: Modern AU. Eren is a college student, studying music. Levi owns a coffee shop that doubles as a bookstore.

This is slow building relationship, I intend to complete this, not sure how long it will be but I don't want to leave anyone hanging.

Third person but will switch between Levi and Eren, mostly. But a few chapters will be about other pairings

Note: I do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters belonging thusly.

 _Not all storms come to disrupt your life,_

 _Some come to clear your path._

 ** _Eren_**

Eren bolted up, his alarm had been going off for some time now but he just kept pushing snooze. But when 10:20 in neon orange started to burn his eyes, he panicked. _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Fucking shit!" When he jumped out of bed, he tripped on some textbooks then proceeded to step on a game controller, he will admit it, his room was a _mess_. He took the shortest shower of his life and brushed his teeth just as quick, but then proceeded to eat a half piece of pizza that could not have been fresh.

 _Oh well, a man has got to eat_.

He grabbed one of his cleaner shirts from the pile on his floor, gave it a quick sniff before deciding it was going to have to work. He thought that since he scheduled this class later, he would be able to be there on time, but of course, Eren was a dumbass.

 _I am going to be so late. Mikasa is going to yell at me then kill me and if she doesn't Armin will swiftly finish me off._

He threw his textbooks into his backpack, grabbed his dorm keys, ran out the door and locked it. It wasn't until he was halfway down the hall that he realized he wasn't wearing any shoes.

 _For fuck's sake._

By the time he got his shoes and left the dorm building, his phone said 10:29. Probably a personal best for getting ready but still – he was dead. He ran across the quad that laid in the middle of the University of Shiganshina, towards the English building. The early winter air burnt his lungs as he ran, of course he forgot his jacket in his dorm, but it was too late now. He could see his adoptive sister and best friend impatiently waiting for him when he arrived.

 _Great I'm going to be late and I am dragging them down with me, I will never hear the end of this._ "Wh-what's up g-guys?" Eren gasped trying to catch his breath, he may be a regular at the gym but that did not mean he should be running at break neck speed across such a huge university. "Sorry, slept in." He managed to choke out without gasping this time.

"Eren, how many times have we told you to get your act together?" Mikasa's eyes narrowed, her usually emotionless, grey eyes held a mix of anger and amusement. "I mean seriously, this is our first semester here and-".

She was cut off by Armin as he dragged them through the large glass doors, "English lecture now, Mikasa lecture later". They ran up two flights of stairs and burst through the heavy wooden door into their lecture hall. The door hit the wall with a loud thud, cutting off the professor mid-sentence. Icy blue eyes narrowed on the three freshmen, and for probably the hundredth time today, Eren thought _shit_.

"Thank you for joining us, Jeager. Ackerman. Arlert". His eyes meeting each of theirs' in turn. All eyes in the room turned towards the, now very red, students.

"I'm sorry professor Smith, we-"

"Just sit down".

"Yes, sir". The three of them said in unison as they took the three seats at the back. _Nope, I was wrong, Mikasa won't kill me. But Armin will._ It was a well-known fact in their friend group that Armin had a _huge_ thing for Erwin Smith, the head of the English department and their current teacher. Armin would constantly stay after class to ask questions of the older man, he insisted it was simply to help him understand the things he was confused on. However, it was another well-known fact that Armin was a genius. Another thing that didn't help his case was that his friend couldn't stop talking about the blonde, and when he did, he turned bright red.

 _Well, maybe he wasn't_ that _mad…_ But from the glare he felt Armin was giving him, Eren knew he would not soon be forgiven for this.

"Look what you did now, Eren! Armin and Smith are having a lovers spat". Mikasa whispered to him, Eren could hear the smile in her voice.

Eren chuckled and put a hand to his heart and in his most _sincere_ voice, "Alas, I am ever so sorry, perhaps Armin should ask him to give him a good pound-"

"Oh shut it, you two! You know very well we aren't toge-"

"I do apologize, it looks like my lecture interrupted your conversation, shall I continue? Or would you like to?" Mr. Smith said calmly, those icy blue eyes piercing into their very souls. A few snickers echoed through the room, but one in particular made Eren's blood boil. _Horseface._ Jean Kirstein was holding his mouth to stifle his laughs, his face turning red with the effort. _Fucking Horseface is going to get it later._ He didn't _hate_ Jean but there was a _dislike_ there. They had known each other since elementary school, actually all their friends had. The fact that they all chose to go to the same university showed how close they really were.

Armin sunk further into his seat, dread written all over his face, enough so that Mikasa and Eren shared a knowing look and decided to drop it there, continuing the class in peace.

An hour later, the class ended and everyone started to pool out, all except Armin. Who was walking towards Mr. Smith's desk, as he did at the end of every class. Eren and Mikasa waited by the doors to the empty class, both of them laughing at their obviously blushing friend. Mikasa started scolding Eren but he was drowning it out, opting to watch his friend.

Armin was profusely apologizing to Erwin, over and over, the older man only laughed, causing his best friend to stare in awe, his not-so-subtle blush turning him into a tomato. _He has got it bad._ He quickly found himself and went to asking a few questions regarding the book they were currently going over. Eren huffed out a laugh. Armin had already read that book six times and could probably recite most of it from heart.

He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, "Ow! What the fu-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence", Mikasa snapped. Rubbing his head, Eren gave a small "sorry", earning a glare from his sister. "Eren, I just want you to succeed at this, I know you struggled in high school but now you can study music like you wanted, but I need you to get through the mandatory classes too. So, please try and get to class on time, if not for yourself but for Armin and I".

"I know, I'm sorry, okay? I really didn't mean to sleep in," another glare, "but I will do better next time". Eren finished, he knew his sister was only looking out for him and he didn't want to disappoint her or Armin.

Mikasa gave a small smile, "Okay, I don't mean to nag but you know me, I worry sometimes". _Sometimes? How 'bout all the time?_ But Eren bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything, his head had already been smacked enough today. Just then, Jean joined them by the door, a small smirk still on his face.

"Jaeger".

"Kirstein". Eren dove in and grabbed him in a headlock, "Don't say shit about what happened". A string of curses left Jean's mouth but smile spread on his face, "You are a bastard, Jaeger". "I know, but you love me". Eren laughed, letting go of his friend. Mikasa gave a small laugh at the boys' antics, just as Armin joined them.

"All good?" A nod from his friend sent them on their way to meet for lunch with the others.

….

The cafeteria was booming with rushing students and panicking students _Oh right, exams are right around the corner, damn it_ and their friend group. Yes, there were so many of them that they were one of the reasons the massive common area was extra loud. They sat down at the three tables pushed together, greeted by a chorus of hellos.

"Hey, cuties!" Krista, the petit blonde yelled out. She was currently sitting on her girlfriend's, Ymir's, lap.

"Oh, did someone talk to Erwin today? Look how red you are, Armin". Ymir added with a smirk. Krista playfully slapped her arm, but that just caused Ymir to pinch Krista's butt, the latter gave a small squeak.

They all laughed when Armin turned a deeper red, "No-no that's not it! It's freaking cold outside, that's all! Honest!" His desperate excuses made the group laugh harder.

"Oh, don't tease him, we all know he has Erwin wrapped around his little finger at this point anyways", Marco chimed in, the freckled boy gave Armin's shoulder a small squeeze. He did have a point, as much as Eren knew Erwin wanted to be angry at the three of them for being late, the man just couldn't stay mad at Armin. "Hang in there, bud. He might fuck you soon". Marco finished, his sudden use of such brash language caused the group to go silent before they started to howl with laughter.

"Oh, fuck you, Marco!" Eren's best friend somehow went a darker shade of red, _how is that even possible?_ Jean sat down next to Marco, giving him a small smile as he did his cheeks going slightly red. Another well-known fact within the friend group: Jean was smitten with the brown-haired boy and _Marco had no idea_.

After everyone had calmed down from their laughing fit (which turned many heads and actually caused a few students to get up and leave), Reiner, Bertholt, and Annie joined them. Mikasa lifted her bag from the chair she saved for the blonde girl. Eren chuckled, Mikasa insisted there was nothing there but you had to be dumb, blind _and_ deaf to ever believe that bullshit.

His sister rarely showed any emotion but when the icy, blue eyed girl was around there was such tenderness there. Little did the love birds know that there was a bet on when they would tell the rest of the group. Eren thought it would be over Christmas break. The winner got free drinks from everyone for an entire night out. And Eren intended to be the winner.

"Hey, where's Connie and Sasha?" Eren piped in once he realized that the baldy and the food whore weren't there.

"Do you even have to ask?" Reiner jutted a thumb towards the food line, and lo-and-behold there was Connie holding three trays of food, while his girlfriend continued to load up more food. "How the fuck does she eat so much, she's a goddamned twig too!"

"I know, right? That bitch" Krista said with a laugh, as Annie, Mikasa and Ymir all said, "Unfair".

They all laughed as their last two friends joined them, plopping their mountain of food onto the table. Poor Connie was looking at his wallet with what looked like tears in his eyes. Sasha also had tears in her eyes, but for an entirely different reason, "So beautiful!" She gushed as she grabbed a potato and stuffed it in her mouth.

Connie quickly recovered and propped his head on his hand staring at her, "Yeah, beautiful…" He signed, a couple of them made gaging noises. Earning them a confused look from Sasha. Those two were too cute sometimes and it made them sick, they hooked up when they were all in their sophomore year of high school and they never looked back, three years later and they were somehow even more in love.

Eren smiled to himself, his friends and himself had all been together since elementary school and when they all got accepted into the University of Shiganshina (better known as U of S) they had celebrated. Their first term was almost over but over Christmas break all twelve of them would be moving into a giant house they all bought together that was only a few blocks from the school. The place was cheap because of how old it was a needed lots of work, so while that was going on some of them to live in the dorms since September; Eren, Mikasa, Armin and Marco.

He glanced at his watch, "Damn. Jean, Armin. We gotta go, class starts in 10". He grabbed his bag watching as Armin stuffed the rest of his sandwich down his throat and Jean said something to Marco before he got up to leave. "We still going out tonight?" He asked and everyone answered at once, "Fuck yeah!" "Cool, see you guys later!" Then the three of them left their loud friends to head to one of their better classes: science.

….

The day passed fairly quickly, especially since Science ended early because Professor Hanji blew up the lab… _again_. Hanji was a weirdo but Eren liked their enthusiasm, even if it was over the top sometimes. Then History, but Eren didn't mind, it was his favourite class besides his music courses.

He didn't have any Music classes until tomorrow so he decided to head back to his dorm and grab his sheet music so he could go practice. Thankfully, he remembered to actually grab a jacket this time because the wind picked up and his jeans were doing nothing for him.

The brisk air caused his face to go numb and his breath came as short puffs. The final leaves were falling from the trees, causing Eren to smile. He loved the summertime but this time of year always made him happy because of the brightly coloured leaves.

As Eren walked he did not notice the small man walking towards him; his nose was already buried too deep into his sheet music, thinking about how it would sound when he played.

Reversely, the dark-haired man was too consumed in his book, which was _shit by the way, why is the protagonist so fucking dumb_ , to see the tall brown-haired boy walking straight towards him.

They crashed into one another, Eren cried out as his sheet music went flying and somehow it was the taller of the two who ended up with their ass on the cold ground.

"Oi, brat!" The man growled, Eren's head snapped up, his hand still on his sheet music and his vision was overfilled with the man's eyes.

They rippled like molten silver and waterfalls.

But at some angles they appeared to be the slightly tinted blue.

They reminded Eren of something, but what was it? Oh, right…

 _Storm Clouds._


	2. An Endless OCean

The small quote (which will be different each chapter) is NOT mine, I simply found it on the web and all credit goes to the original writer of the quote.

Note: I do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters belonging thusly.

 _You blush like an ocean in love,_

 _Wild with Blueness_

 ** _Levi_**

 _Ah, it's going to be one of_ those _days_ , Levi huffed out a curse before he jumped out of bed in his dark bedroom. His phone blaring on his dresser, it was his 'best' friend, Hanji.

 _Oh, this better be fucking good, or I'm going to give shitty glasses a whole new meaning when I shove those glasses so far up their ass that-_ "What."

"HELLO GRUMPY PANTS! HOW ARE YOU!?" Levi cursed as he pulled the phone away from his ear, a fucking pterodactyl screeching in his ear is _not_ what he needed this morning.

"I'm hanging up-"

"Wait! SORRY! Please, I'm outside so please let me in!" He could practically hear her pout on the other end of the phone, and when he walked over to the window, sure enough there was the eccentric science nerd frantically waving at him.

"Why should I? What time is it any-" he glanced down at his watch, "-ways…? FUCK HANJI! Its goddamn 5:00 am! The shop doesn't open until at least 7:00!" He rubbed the bridge of his nose as his friend explained something about the lunar cycles and lab rats, "Fine! Give me a minute okay? Jesus. Why not bother Erwin…" He mumbled as he hung up and slipped on a jacket, it was _cold_ today, he considered just letting shitty glasses stand outside and freeze but then he heard them yelling and knew that wasn't going to happen.

He made his way down from his apartment to the shop below, it smelled of books, coffee and lemon cleaner. _Perfect_. When he told Erwin and Hanji what he was planning 7 years ago, they had given him deadpan looks. Which were understandable, he was antisocial, grumpy, hard to get along with and pretty well hated everyone… _huh, I wonder why I did open this place?_

His thoughts were cut off by the pounding on the door, he harshly threw it open and Hanji pretty well fell into his lap. "Tch, get off" he pushed them aside and swiftly got up and shut the door, the small bell giving a small _ding_.

"Good morning, Leeeeevvvviiiiii!" Unfazed by the fall, the scientist hopped up and placed themselves on one of the coffee bar stools, "Thanks for letting me in, I was up all night keeping the rats and…"

They continued to talk as Levi walked in the back and grabbed a tea for himself and a black coffee with a double shot of expresso for the crazy person, _this is the last thing they need this morning, how can one person have so much energy?_

"…so now I'm going to work to get started on the experiment, and hopefully all goes well! I have a great batch of students this semester!" Hanji finished just as Levi returned with their piping hot cup and a small lemon pastry, "Thanks! So, what were you up to before I got here?" They peaked over the brim of the mug as they took a long sip and gave a small hum of appreciation, "You are one talented man", she sighed.

Levi shot her a dirty look, "Well, seeing as it is 5:00am, I was sleeping".

"Oh…well at least you are awake now!" At this point Levi has given Hanji thousands of glares, over the course of their 20-year friendship, that they were no longer affected by them.

The café fell into a comfortable silence as Hanji happily enjoyed her coffee and Levi slowly woke up from drinking his tea, the perfect blend of earthy and herby, the only way tea should be enjoyed. His eyes slowly closed as the tea graced his mouth and its scent filled his nostrils. It wasn't that Levi did not enjoy Hanji, quite honestly, they were probably his best friend (not that he would ever say that), it was simply that they were very loud.

But sometimes Levi needed that, the sound to fill his sleepy shop and quiet home.

The silence was abruptly broken when Hanji slammed her mug down, it was a wonder how it didn't break in two, and they stood up, "Well, I'm off! Are we still on for dinner with Erwin tonight?"

"Of course, how could I forget?" _He'd forgotten._

"Perfect! Well, we can all meet at my lab at, say, 4:00ish? It's going to be fun!" They pulled their jacket on and opened the door, another _ding_ rang through the shop.

"Sounds good, I can't wait". _That was a lie, he would much rather stay at home, drink tea and read his new book._ The door slammed shut, leaving Levi to clean up the whirlwind of a mess they made and prepare for another day at _Wings of Freedom: Coffee and Books_.

After thoroughly cleaning the, already spotless, café and bookstore, Levi headed upstairs to clean his pristine apartment. The smell of bleach and lemon filled his nostrils, he gave a small _hmph_ of approval. Many would say that Levi was a clean freak, however, Levi would say that the entire population of the Earth were simply dirty heathens who wouldn't know what clean was if it hit them in the face and cleansed their souls.

He checked his watch and saw that he had just enough time to shower and change into more suitable attire. The shower was blistering hot and turned his pale skin a light pink. Usually he would have preferred a bath but he had to open shop soon.

As he headed down the stairs the sun finally started to rise and illuminated the café. He took the stand up sign out of the closet and flinched when he opened the door to place it outside and was greeted by the blistering wind. _God damned winter._ He quickly shut the door and waited for the morning rush to arrive.

….

"Order for Maria!" Levi called out. A small black-haired girl ran up with a small blush on her face, Levi gave her a small smirk, and as predicted her blush deepened and she ran away with her coffee. Her friends giggled as she sat down, shooting quick glances and the extremely attractive shop owner.

Levi gave a small sigh, he has known he was gay for many years now but he still gets hit on relentlessly by both men and women. But he did like to have fun with them sometimes.

He glanced at his watch, and just as he was about to curse Annie for not being there on time, the door chime went off as the blonde and her girlfriend walked in.

Well, she hadn't introduced the sharp-eyed girl as such but it was _blatantly_ obvious.

"Tch, you almost didn't make it", he shot her a glare which she returned in kind, that was one of the reasons he liked her, they could throw shit at one another but they never did rub each other the wrong way. She hurried to the back as her not-girlfriend-friend sat down at the bar, "What can I get for you?" She glanced up, those steel eyes never wavering.

"Coffee, tea, _Annie_?" He smirked when her eyes slightly widened then narrowed in on him but she couldn't hide the small blush on her cheeks. _Tch._

"Coffee, is fine, _thanks_ ", she said through gritted teeth, _that last part didn't sound fairly grateful, damn brats don't know respect._

The customers started to die down and Levi decided it was okay to leave the shop in Annie's hands for the last two hours. He went upstairs, showered, trying to get that coffee residue off of his skin. When he felt clean enough he put on black jeans, a black button up and black boots.

As he left the store, he shouted back, "As long as no one is in, you can close up but please for the love of everything holy do not have sex in my shop!" He smirked when he heard the girls go to retort but the door slammed behind them. _Horny teenagers._

The air was freezing causing Levi's cheeks to turn pink and even with his hands deeply in his pockets they started to lose all feeling. _Fucking winter. Fucking rain. Fucking falling leaves. Fucking cold ass breeze._ Levi hated winter.

His phone buzzed with a new message:

 **Hanji: Are you still coming?**

 **Hanji: Please say you are! It's been FOREVVVVVVVER!**

 **Hanji: Erwin misses you too! 3**

 _Levi: Shut up for a second! Just let me respond or send it all as one message! I am on my way, I should be there soon. Alright?_

 **Hanji: YAY! Remember: science building, lab #3 and you are looking for the grumpy blond man (It's Erwin, if you didn't already guess!)**

Levi shook his head, that freak was driving him nuts but it was never a dull moment with them around. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket, not bothering to reply to the text. The university was fairly close to his shop so he got tons of students in everyday, _shitty brats always leaving a mess_.

He pulled his book from his bag, might as well read if he had to walk for 10 minutes to get to the university. The story was interesting, but the characters were dumb, _like seriously don't do that…and you're dead. Nope, don't do that either…now the world is ending. Fucking fantastic._

The campus came into view and he instinctively took a left knowing exactly where Hanji's lab was. He didn't know why they always gave him directions, _it's not like I have been there dozens of time over the years. Damn, shitty glasses._ The campus was littered with fallen leaves but, as always and to Levi's joy, there was no trash in sight. Either the students were super respectful or someone cleaned every single day. Levi would bet a hundred bucks that it was the latter.

As Levi walked he did not notice the tall boy walking towards him; too focused on how dumb the characters were and too deep into the lunacy of it, already thinking of the next book.

Reversely, the browned-haired boy was too consumed in his sheet music, which was _going to sound really good if he could pull it off_ , to see the short black-haired man walking straight towards him.

They crashed into one another, Levi had the wind knocked out of him and his book fell to the dirty ground, _well guess I have to burn it now_. He glanced down to see the messy brown hair of a student, who was surrounded by pages. _Messy brat_.

"Oi, brat!" The growl left Levi lips, much harsher than he intended. The kid's head snapped up and Levi's vision was overfilled with the boy's eyes.

They shined like sapphires and blue birds' wings.

But in the light, they reflected green with bright specks of gold.

They reminded Levi of something, but what was it? Oh, right…

 _An Endless Ocean._


End file.
